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# The Madwoman of Étretat in Merle and Margaret Lanterman in Lynch, two women with a log
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/sumasshedshaia-iz-etreta-frantsuzskogo-zhivopistsa-gugo-merle-1871-god-i-dama-s-polenom-iz-tvin-piksa-devida-lincha-1990-god/
- Published: 2023-12-27T18:36:59.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-02T18:37:19.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Art, Cinema, Mores

"The Madwoman of Étretat" by the French painter Hugues Merle, 1871, and the Log Lady from Twin Peaks by David Lynch, 1990.

The two women are united by a tragic fate: both lost someone they loved. The madwoman of Étretat was a real woman whom Merle met in the street; he later learned that she had borne a child out of wedlock, been cast out by society and, with no means of earning a living or feeding herself, had lost the child, after which she lost her reason and went about carrying a swaddled log in her arms. Lynch's mad Margaret Lanterman lost her husband on their wedding night; he died in a fire, and from a tree that fell during that fire she carved a log, with which she walked and talked for many years

![](https://theparnassian.com/content/images/2026/09/photo_10802@27-12-2023_21-36-59.jpg)